Crews removing oil boom from Mobile Bay (with photo gallery)

Work crews in Mobile Bay pulled 100-foot sections of oil containment boom Friday morning near Fowl River and the Theodore Industrial Canal as part of a stepdown ordered by the spill response command.

"The risk/reward is just not there now that there's no more oil flowing into the Gulf. We're looking at the heart of hurricane season and don't want the boom to be a liability if we can't get it out of the way," said U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Scott Carr.

In a hurricane, boom would slap into critical marshlands, and workers trying to retrieve it would cause more damage, he said.

Some sensitive areas of Mobile Bay were protected with three layers of boom but never saw any oil come ashore. In those areas, a single layer of boom may be left intact.

The work south of Fowl River went slowly Friday as contractors in aluminum skiffs worked at low tide to free anchors securing sections of boom. Since the water was only about 3 feet deep, the boom sections then had to be towed into deeper water where larger boats picked them up.

Removing the boom will also make navigation safer, Carr said.

"At some point, mariners are going to get back out on the water, and we don't want the boom to be a hazard to navigation. Casual boaters are not expecting it to be there," Carr said.

The strategy is to start in the northern regions of Mobile Bay where the oil never reached then work south, Carr said.

In Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, 1.6 million feet of boom was deployed, Carr said.

"Boom is an effective barrier in preventing oil from coming ashore, but right now the issue is tarballs, and its not effective at keeping them off the beach," Carr said.

Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Scott McBride said that the boom being taken up near Fowl River would be stored at staging areas near the Theodore Industrial Canal in case its needed later.